Paul Joseph

Hi - Newbie here.

I have a 97 boxster - 80,000 miles. RPM is below 1000 when idling. Never had a problem with it. Stored it last winter and then had the body repainted. The guy also did an oil change - used 15W40. When I got the car it has a ticking noise. I did not have it before. When I rev the engine it's still there at higher RPM. I believe the mechanic I use regularly uses a different oil but I have to call him to verify. I just wondered if anyone could give any insight to the noise and if it's serious enough to get the car towed to mechanic or if I can drive to get it check out or if im lucky - an easy fix to avoid mechanic all together.

It's pretty cold out and I have only driven it maybe 50 miles since I got it this past week.

Here's the video -->
Thanks a lot!

Macster

My WAG is it sounds like a water pump.

To be safe I'd advise you to not run the engine any more.

If you want to confirm or eliminate the water pump you can remove the cover in the bulkhead ahead of the engine compartment and after carefully noting the belt routing -- take a pic, draw a diagram -- check the water pump pulley/shaft for play.

You have all the accessory drives available so go around to each one in turn and check for play. By this I think you will know if the water pump pulley/shaft play is within "spec" or not.

Also, check the edges of the belt. If one or both are sharp that's a sign the belt is not tracking true and that strongly suggests an accessory drive has too much bearing play. The most common accessory drive to develop this condition is the water pump.

One other thing you can do is if the noise appears from cold start, or just moments after, with the belt off you can start the engine and let it idle and confirm the noise is presence or absent. If absent then shut off the engine and install the belt and button the cabin up and restart the engine to confirm the noise is there.

If the noise is present shut off the engine, install the belt and button everything up and arrange to get the car to a shop. The noise comes from most likely something inside the engine.

Not sure I'd take it where you have the car serviced. "15w-40" (which AFAIK doesn't exist so it is either 15w-50 or 10w-40) oil is not the right oil to be using. If you can't rely upon this place to know and use the right oil I'd not trust it possibly inside the car's engine.

Bossy Pants

Ticking noises are generally associated with exhaust leaks or a sticky valve lifter. Water pumps will make a chirping and squeaking noise when they start to go and it is typically loud.

Macster

Agree with the first part of what you wrote. The 2nd part, my experience with my Boxster's water pump was it sounded pretty much like the audio in the clip posted by the OP.

(My Turbo's water pump went bad but it was silent. The tell tale was a whiff of anti-freeze odor which prompted me to get it at the dealer for an inspection and leak sign was spotted at the water pump.)

Bossy Pants

It is advisable to check the water pump anytime a strange noise is heard coming from the motor as IMHO the Boxster wp is the second most poorly engineered part on the Boxster motor running a close second to the single row IMS bearings used in the 2000-2005 models. I've had three water pumps fail on my '99 and all three started with a squeaking noise then went into a howl.
Does the turbo use a different pump than a Boxster and how well are they constructed?

Macster

The water pump in my Boxster lasted over 170K miles. Its replacement is going on 130K miles. I have no complaints regarding the factory or factory replacement Boxster water pump.

The Turbo water pump lasted just 120K miles. The pump is different but as near as I can tell about the same construction.

In the case of the Turbo water pump I attribute its "premature" demise to the fact the car had very little use ( on average just 1667 miles/year ) its first 6 years of ownership and that accounts for the water pump developing a leak. (Not the only leak the car developed.) We'll have to see how the replacement water pump holds up if I keep the car that long.

Bossy Pants

First congratulations on owning a Boxster that has gone 300K miles, that is something to celebrate and gives the rest of us hope that ours will do the same.
Next I hope you built a shrine for those water pumps because they are the exception and not the rule. Dealer service departments and most Porsche trained indies now recommend the water pump be changed at 40K mi. intervals as a maintenance item, they are that bad.

Macster

No experience with indies but I have been to a number of Porsche dealers with both my cars here/local and across the western USA. Not one recommended an early water pump replacement or any early/premature/preemptive replacement of anything.

The gotta replace the water pump advise is primarily driven by a premature failure due to unfortunately a bad water pump and its gets magnified/blown up to they're all bad and can't last more than and here name a mileage, the shorter the better as the more likely some owners will accept it as gospel because of all the cars to choose from and after having decided to choose a Porsche it reinforces their belief that Porsche is the worst most incompetent car maker around that it can't even master water pumps and such.

The only shrine I see needing to be built is from all the premature water pumps and all the rest of the hardware these all knowing indies and "dealers" cause to be replaced.

Bossy Pants

Anyone's position is based on their experience with that something. If I had a water pump that lasted 170K miles and a second that is going on 130K miles I'd be all smiles too. But because you've had the good fortune to have that kind of experience doesn't mean issues don't exist. In my case I'm on the third OEM pump in 30K miles of ownership the second one giving out in 2,400 miles.
Because one has had bad experiences and complains about them doesn't mean they think Porsche makes bad cars. In the case of the single row IMS and the water pumps Porsche just made some bad decisions caused by their going to an automated assembly system, borrowed from Toyota, where to keep up with demand they have to enlist a whole lot of third party vendors who may not have the same stringent standards Porsche does.
Good on ya for your good fortune but my experience is different and once bitten twice shy.

Macster

That short of water pump life suggests one is using a discount water pump. There have been reports as owners have moved to using discount water pumps of short life spans. Not everyone who goes with a discount water pump has a problem but the reports are at a volume that even if I was contemplating considering a discount water pump it would put me off.

The factory pump comes with a 1 year labor and 2 year and 24K miles warranty to cover the rare but possible premature failure which can happen to any brand of water pump.

The Boxster and Turbo water pumps are the only water pumps in any of my cars over the years I've had to replace. I replaced a couple in family member cars. One in a mid '70's Ford and another in a mid '08's Camaro. While I replaced a water pump in my early '70's Dodge pick up I only replaced it because I had the engine out to rebuild and one just replaces the water pump (and oil pump and distributor) as SOP in these cases.

Schnell Gelb

Trying to save a few bucks/months delaying w/p replacement will make for 'interesting' reading eventually.
If there is one thing I have learned from studying the technical issues on the M96-related Forums ,it is that this engine is very unforgiving of lapses in timely maintenance & repair. Yes it may run with deferred maintenance but the eventual failure will be $evere.
My M96 made ticking noises. I used an Engine Ear and quickly identified #6 main bearing failure.The old screwdriver/HF stethoscope tools were misleading & difficult to use. That saved the engine in rebuildable condition instead of destroying a c/s and worse.
" It sounds like lifters" - is not an acceptable standard of diagnosis on this engine I found. You need to elevate the diagnosis work to aircraft standards & aviation standard diagnostic tools in my limited experience. Standards that worked well enough for me on lesser cars like Jaguar and Aston Martin failed me with this M96.
And in case you think I am exaggerating, I have an interest in a local Indie where we work on Jags, Astons, R.Rover and other exotica . Any M96 work we are offered - we refer to others for reasons mentioned above.
So what to do ?
The advice in prior posts is smart and well informed in my experience.
Dissect the oil filter and report back ?

Bossy Pants

Have you had this diagnosed and what is the conclusion?

Bossy Pants

All three OEM. They may come with a warranty but the warranty does not cover leaving the driver stranded, waiting for a tow, having to find transport home and back to pick up the repaired car and whether or not the closest shop you took it to will honor the labor part of the warranty (not all areas have dealers). There is much more to a failure than just having the part covered.
Since we are straying from the original post I've asked the OP to let us know what the diagnosis is so we can get back on track.